Book review: They say we are infidels, by Mindy Belz

I've rarely read a book that made me feel so bad for not paying too much attention to a lot of small phenomenon taking place in the Middle East. Of course, I am reading daily about the latest political and geopolitical positions about the war in Syria but in a sea of information I am rather tempted to look at the big picture. In this big picture the plight of Christians and the tremendous efforts to survive and challenges to escape are rarely featured.

Mindy Belz, editor of the Christian-oriented publication World Magazine, traveled often to Iraq, Jordan and Syria and got in touch with leaders of the faith or simply believers telling their stories and trying to escape. Not many are successful, among them many community leaders, brutally killed, kidnapped as a way to terrorize entire communities. 'Wherever there are Christians, they come and chase them', is one of her many observations from the intensive ground reporting work. The sense of the everyday life is completely distorted, and simple facts and gestures are read differently, based on the current terror threats. For instance, after explosives were often hidden in packages of spices, 'Residents grew to fear the smell of cinnamon' in the Mosul area. There are many more examples which offer a different view on the everyday life in this part of the world, that doesn't often appear in the big media. 

Personally, I've found extremely worrisome the huge number of lives took away during this what seems to be a neverending conflict. Just think about how many people are affected when one person dies. What happens then when thousand of people are killed just in a couple of hours? Terrible.
When it comes to the political decision makers, the author is outlining also the failures of the current and past American policies, that although pledged in favour of a non-involvement, ignored the human aspects and created a vacuum of power where nothing was put after the intervention to put an end of the Saddam Hussein regime. 

It is a book well documented and written, with many details and facts. To be read because we are humans that should not be indifferent by the fate of other humans.

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange of an honest review

Book review: Aleppo, by Philip Mansel

Once upon a time, it was a city, with a vibrant life, and beautiful buildings and an European flair. Its name was Aleppo and was almost destroyed by the latest civil war, although escaped for centuries big wars, riots or earthquakes. I personally never traveled to this city, but luckier travelers friends of mine told or showed me interesting stories or pictures from here. All these pictures are mostly showing places that are just memories. 

In his latest book, Philip Mansel covers the history of the city as part of the greater Middle East and the main trade routes. It is the story of a city "with a rhythm of its own, challenging categories and generalisations. Lying between the desert and the sea, the mountains of Anatolia and the banks of the Euphrates, it was Arab and Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian, Christian, Muslim and Jewish". 

Until the latest civil war, the city kept at a great extent a peaceful character and went through the big world conflicts without serious damage. Together with Damascus, to whom it places itself in antithesis, it is one of the oldest continously inhabited cities in the world. Faithful to the Ottoman Empire, it was used often as a basis during the frequent wars with Iran over the control of Iraq or the battles between Sunni and Shi'a. Although its commercial role will diminish by the 17th century, it will remain till the 21st century, an important hub of cultural, trade and diplomatic resources. The impressive number of sayings and proverbs typical for Aleppo that entered the public conscience in the region are an example of the special status of this city. My favourite by far is: "If you do business with a dog, you should call him Sir". It testifies about a special sensibility and a local code of values. 

The book has two big parts: one dedicated to cover various historical and political stages of development of the city, with its main benchmarks, and the other covering fragments from travel accounts about Aleppo. It is an interesting perspective which offers the chance to get a glimpse of the ambiance and profile of the city through direct accounts. 

It is an informative interesting read, of academic consistency and well written. My only regret is that the author commits the big sin of many historians approaching the 'multicultural' Middle Eastern cities of pretending that there was tolerance towards the Jewish inhabitants. Only at the beginning of the 19th century there were couple of infamous "blood libels" that are not mentioned in the book. Anyway, this was not the main topic of the book, but more attention to this detail will help countering the stereotype of the 'tolerance' in the Middle East. 

A lecture recommended to both historians and political scientiest, as well as to journalists covering the Middle East. 

The book will be released the 28th of April.

Disclaimer: I was offered the book for review via NetGalley.com, but the opinions are, as usual, my own.

Who are the German Pirates

My first encounter direct with the German Pirates Party was in 2011, when they were part of a huge demonstration in Potsdamer Platz, 10 years after 9/11 when some of the participants distributed various leaflets with toxic conspiracy theories about the events. 

Long before this moment, when I've hear about 'Pirates', it was in the middle of the international crisis of the real pirates from Somalia and was almost sure that it should be a party supporting the right of those people to be the Robin Hoods of the 21st century.

However, I was almost close of this idea: as I found out from Martin Haesler book about the German Pirates Party, when they are not fighting for the freedom of the net, they are against the capitalism as we all know it. A powerful force of the new hippies that won places in local parliaments and in the European Parliament. In Germany, they are also against the political parties that supported the Balkan Wars. Freedom of the Internet is cool and ACTA is not the smartest thing in the world, but as far as I remember from the political science classes, the aim of a party is to be in power and thus, I wonder what a pirate can say about the fiscal policies and foreign relations. 

The book is explaining the history of the German Pirates, their success and say something about some of the members situated in the hip area of Friedrichshain and are very much connected with the famous hacker group Chaos Computer Club. All the parties are part of the global network of Pirate Parties International - long time ago, only the communists were honoured to be party of the International, but nowadays, the Liberals are proud members too. 

The author tries to be neutral and to simply expose the main recent historical facts, the results at the last elections and some short interviews with 'famous' pirates, as well as some programs presented at the end of the book.

For someone fluent in German and curious about the Pirates, it is an useful lecture. 

The passionate life of international workers

There are a couple of things that would recommend Love at the speed of e-mail for a review for a blog dedicated exclusively to foreign affairs and international policy. The author, Lisa McKay belongs to the category of the experts in the field of humanitarian work. Even though as a person passionate about foreign policy you love rather to debate about global crisis and big theories, you might know that sooner or later you should think about people that make those theories happen. Beyond their dedication for changing the world and making it a better place, they are looking for a sense of home and a life of their own. 

With the help of this book, you will better understand the life and professional challenges of the humanitarian work, by following Lisa's travels from all the world, from the Balkans to South-Eastern Asia and Africa. It is both a travel book, a memoir and a delicate love story that you would love to carry with you for the summer. 

Another good reasons that determined me to post my book review on this blog is that a portion of the profits will be going to support two charities in Laos - where Lisa is currently living: Pencils of Promise and Luang Prabang Boat Library. 

Disclaimer: We received a complimentary copy from the author.

Book Review of the Week: The amazing story of Nojoud Ali

Do you remember what were your favourite ways to spend your time when you were a 10yo? Especially as a girl, you must probably have a lot of time to play with your dolls.  Most probably, only a few of you found out that they should leave school and get married. It is the case of Nojoud Ali, a child from Yemen that was sent out of her family to serve as wife. She dared to escape and fight for her life and with the help of the judges from Sanaa, Yemen's capital city, she succeeded to get the divorce and turned into a role model of fighter for the women's rights and dignity in Yemen. 

Together with the French journalist Delphine Minoui, a familiar pen for those interested in the Middle East affairs, she published a book about her adventure, translated in more than 20 languages. It is an easy read, very direct and with a lot of food for thought. Children's marriages are a reality in many rural areas in the Middle East and Africa, and Yemen especially was the subject of late reports warning about the serious situation of early marriages and disrespect of fundamental rights. It is hard to imagine the consequences of such trauma for the future of the women and, in general, for the Yemeni society as such. 

However, it is impossible to believe that any development and democratic change will be possible in the near future without a clear answer to cases such as the subject approached in this book. Nojoud Ali was a lucky girl and her example could be a source of inspiration for many girls going through the same nightmare. On the other hand, many need help and support and a legislation that will defend them against all those who are abusing their dignity, even though they should be against their parents.

Anyone who is interested in the issue of human rights should read this book and better appreciate the gifts of our Western world.